Lately, I have been getting quite a few questions on how to start a blog and the services I used to move from Blogger to Self-hosted WordPress. I wrote a blog post about my decision to move to a Self-hosted blog and from that post I have been getting questions on exactly how I did it. So instead of sending you all over the internet for tips or tutorials I’ve decided to put together a quick tutorial on how I moved over and the exact steps I did to buy my hosting and get started.

Deciding to make the move to a Self-hosted site is a big commitment. You have full control over your blog at this point and it can be a bit overwhelming if you’re used to a free website like Blogger or Weebly. These sites are very user-friendly and require little to no knowledge of HTML coding or other website building knowledge. Just simply click and drag what you want and where you want it. However, sometimes you just simply outgrow your blog or wish you could simply do more with it. And that’s where a self-hosted blog comes in. In my previous post 4 Reasons Why I Moved From Blogger to WordPress, I covered some of those reasons.

Here’s 4 Simple Steps To Starting a Self-hosted Blog With Siteground!

Step 1. Choosing your hosting plan

A self-hosted blog just means you pay for a specific amount of bandwidth(space) per month. As mentioned before, self-hosted blog or websites give you full ownership and full control over your site and the way it functions. SiteGround offers 3 plans to fit your needs. I would recommend starting out with the Startup plan for now unless your current traffic is more than 10,000 visits per month. If you exceed that at some point SiteGround will send you an email letting you know it’s time for an upgrade! And that’s a GOOD thing!

Step 2. Choosing Domain

A domain is basically like your address, just on the internet. If you already have a domain through another site such as Go Daddy you can just simply click the “I already have a domain” check and follow the directions to transfer it over. If you don’t however, you can get a free domain from SiteGround. Picking a domain name can be stressful, especially if you’re not sure of the angle you’re wanting your blog to go. It’s how people will start to recognize you on the internet. I wouldn’t spend too much time stressing over it though, as you grow, your content will be what people remember about your blog as well.

Here’re some suggestions while picking a domain for your blog.

Keep it short and simple.

Try to get a .com rather than a .me, .net as the .com sites are just more widely used.

Try not to use numbers or dashes when possible. It may be harder to remember the dash or multiple numbers.

Remember that whatever domain name you choose is ok, as long as it’s unique to you and has your personality or topic then you’re good to go!

Step 3. Review and Complete

The final step of the setup process is to review your plan, make sure your domain is spelled correctly and there is no final changes you want to make. Be sure to also choose how far out you want to pay for your hosting up front. With 12, 24 and 36-month plans, there’s sure to be a plan for you! I decided to go with 24 months as that was within my budget. I also wanted a little money set aside for my blog theme. With the 24 month plan, I also got the setup fee waived so that helped keep costs down as well!

Step 4. Installing WordPress

After completing the signup process you should get an email with all your account login details. Once you have that, log into your account and should see a popup asking you if you want to have WordPress pre-installed on your account. You will want to select “get WordPress installed on this account” and then click proceed. Next, you will see a page that is asking to create login details for WordPress. This will be different than the login details for SiteGround. This will allow you to gain access to the WordPress back end and your blog back end. Once the login is created you’re all set!

I would spend some time getting to know the WordPress back end and how everything functions. There’s a lot to see and do and you’ll be spending a lot of time building posts, editing and installing plug-ins. So get yourself familiar with the basics of WordPress.

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate for SiteGround meaning that if you sign up using my link I will make a small commission that helps keep Simply Samantha Bush running. All opinions regarding SiteGround are my own.